Ronaldo donates £5m to Nepal relief as climate change hampers efforts
Real Madrid footballer makes Nepal donation to Save the Children as relief efforts are impacted by climate change
Relief efforts in Nepal after two earthquakes are being hampered by the impacts of climate change and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has donated £5 million to the humanitarian efforts.
More than 8,000 people have died and a further 20,000 have been injured after an earthquake in April was followed by second one on Tuesday, according to reports.
Nepal, as a Least Developed Country, suffers the worst impacts of climate change including droughts, floods, and food insecurity – despite having minimal impact on global levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate-related factors are complicating search and rescue operations, obstructing aid convoys, and are exacerbating the challenging conditions for thousands of displaced people.
Weak infrastructure in the country means many critical roads have been damaged and remote villages located in mountains and hillsides require helicopters to distribute aid.
Inadequate communications networks are also impacting the effective prioritisation of the effected areas.
Early monsoon rain has also affected many people who have been made homeless by the earthquake and reports from some experts have indicated that climate change affects the monsoon’s arrival and intensity.
This increases the likelihood of the spread of contagious diseases in public spaces where many now take shelter.
The Green Climate Fund of the United Nations has been designed to increase developing countries’ access to climate finance but has not yet raised adequate funding to support nations most vulnerable to climate change such as Nepal.
The funding of the GCF and climate fainace support for developing countries is set to be a key theme of the upcoming COP21 UN climate change conference in Paris later this year.
Erratic rainfall patterns and quantity is a prime cause of that cause serious flooding, endangering lives and agricultural production.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Real Madrid footballer, has donated £5 million to the Save the Children charity to help their aid efforts in Nepal.
The 30-year-old made the donation having previously asked his 100 million Facebook followers to support the charity.
Ronaldo has also worked closely with Unicef and World Vision and in 2004 he flew to Indonesia having seen a survivor from the tsunami there wearing a shirt with his name.